From the Road: 10 Billion Lives Tour Cruises the East Coast

After the Animal Rights Conference in Washington DC, the 10 Billion Lives tour made several stops in Virginia Beach and the DC area. One stop outside of the United States Department of Agriculture building near our nation’s capitol attracted media attention that was seen by countless Americans…however, it was not so welcomed by Beef Magazine.

The 10 Billion Lives tour has gotten back on the road to resume our journey of education and inspiration. We held two successful events at Temple University in Philadelphia, where we continued to spread knowledge about the truth behind animal agriculture and empower people to make positive lifestyle transitions. Many students in Philadelphia had never seen footage from behind the scenes of the meat, dairy, and eggs on their plates.

After getting some minor repairs done and sharing a lovely visit with a FARM supporter, we moved on to New York. The battle for parking proved itself difficult, but we eventually found Coney Island to be a very successful spot to hold an event. Once again, we engaged with many people who had never been exposed to the harsh realities endured by animals in the food system.

On Sunday, we took part in a street fair in Nutley, New Jersey. We were able to reach many people before a rainstorm set in and we received a lot of positive feedback from viewers. Many people pledged to reduce or eliminate their consumption of animal products.

On Labor Day, we returned to Coney Island to hold another event, but the rain kept foot traffic low. We look forward to what the next few weeks hold in store as we continue to open hearts and minds during this leg of the 10 Billion Lives Tour.

If you have a great location for the 10 Billion Lives Tour to set up or you wish the tour to visit your town, please email our Grassroots Coordinator, Alex Felsinger at AlexF@farmusa.org.

It is misguided to advocate that eating animals is wrong, immoral or unjust. Millions of humans would die if forced by well meaning do-godders to stop eating meat. Vegatable diets may work among the Western elite but third worlders living in poverty would suffer.

Working for better conditions is one thing nd independent of being Vegan.

Mending our food system is a crucial part of solving the world’s most destructive and persistent problems. Animal agribusiness is responsible for a long list of human rights atrocities because of its overuse of arable land (using 10-20 times the amount of land and energy resources needed to grow plant-based foods). The planet simply cannot support 7+ billion people on animal-based diets. It is mathematically impossible. The equation is simple, the fewer farmed animals we feed, the more people we can feed.

Animal agriculture is resulting in starvation and cultural displacement. Countries in which tens of thousands of people are starving to death every single day are exporting edible grains to rich countries so we can feed animals first and then kill and eat them. Additionally, animal agribusiness is the #1 cause of displacing indigenous peoples – tearing down rainforests and taking over land lived on for countless generations. Tragically, 80% of the world’s hungry live in countries with food surpluses, much of which is fed to farmed animals who will in turn be eaten by well-to-do consumers in rich nations.

FARM’s mission is to encourage conscious consumer choices so that we can put an end to the use and killing of animals for food. Over 99% of animals killed in the U.S. are killed for human consumption. With the abundance of plant-based foods, this horror and killing is completely unnecessary. And the results are devastating for society, for the environment, and for the animals themselves.